Cancer-associated cachexia and underlying biological mechanisms

Title

Cancer-associated cachexia and underlying biological mechanisms

Creator

Baracos VE

Publisher

Annual Review Of Nutrition

Date

2006

Subject

Humans; Palliative Care; Nutritional Support; Appetite; IM; Cachexia/th [Therapy]; Neoplasms/co [Complications]; Weight Loss; Cachexia/me [Metabolism]; Energy Intake/ph [Physiology]; Energy Metabolism/ph [Physiology]; Neoplasms/me [Metabolism]

Description

Cancer metastases (spread to distant organs from the primary tumor site) signify systemic, progressive, and essentially incurable malignant disease. Anorexia and wasting develop continuously throughout the course of incurable cancer. Overall, in Westernized countries nearly exactly half of current cancer diagnoses end in cure and the other half end in death; thus, cancer-associated cachexia has a high prevalence. The pathophysiology of cancer-associated cachexia has two principal components: a failure of food intake and a systemic hypermetabolism/hypercatabolism syndrome. The superimposed metabolic changes result in a rate of depletion of physiological reserves of energy and protein that is greater than would be expected based on the prevailing level of food intake. These features indicate a need for nutritional support, metabolic management, and a clear appreciation of the context of life-limiting illness. [References: 165]
2006

Rights

Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).

Type

Journal Article

Citation List Month

Backlog

Citation

Baracos VE, “Cancer-associated cachexia and underlying biological mechanisms,” Pediatric Palliative Care Library, accessed March 19, 2024, https://pedpalascnetlibrary.omeka.net/items/show/13415.